METHODS

Field

Recovery methods of all materials from excavation units, trenches, and clearing areas included field screening through ¼ inch mesh, washing, sorting, labeling, cataloguing, and preliminary reporting conducted at the site of Lamanai and the Lamanai Field Research Center. Fieldwork generally consists of the use of trenches and clearing in order to locate boundaries of various components of remaining Maya architecture. 'Harolds' examination consisted of clearing of midden debris on the front stairs. Excavations were also carried out on the southwest front, which contains midden material, cut into from the lowest point (west end) moving east toward the deeper portion of the deposit resting against the structure.

Excavations in 'Ottawa' identified both primary and secondary benches and walls within various rooms of N10-15 and N10-28 and work carried out in the 1999 field season concentrated on removal and clearing of occupational debris and core found within these rooms. The Maya residing and carrying out various public activities in 'Ottawa' completely filled Plaza [N10]3 with limestone 'boulders'. Minimal clearing revealed a portion of the eastern side of the lower front stairs leading up to N10-15 and identified more of the well preserved plaza floor.

Methods employed in the investigation of N12-12 in the area of Spanish settlement at Lamanai included trenches around the perimeter of the exposed architecture. Clearing along the south side revealed more of the already exposed courses of which the lower course extends slightly beyond the upper, a diagnostic architectural feature of Postclassic platforms. Shallow clearing and trenching along the east side of N12-12 revealed this same type of Postclassic construction, leading us to believe that the south and east sides are contemporaneous. But the south end of the east side is confusing in terms of a southeast corner designation. It is most likely the case that we are looking at at least two structures in the southeast corner of N12-12. Two small one meter by one meter units were placed on top of the northwest and southwest corners to identify thickness of the facings to gain a better understanding of the architecture. Previous excavations by Pendergast (Personal communication 1999) on the north (back) side of N12-12 located midden material containing Spanish artifacts including a fair amount of olive jar. A trench was opened in the 1999 field season at the most northern edge of the accumulation to locate the outer extents of the midden and possibly expose any platforms.

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